Apparatus for handling material



1940- A. c. NYSTROM ET AL 2,219,196

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING MATERIAL Filed Sept. 15, 1938 A. c. NYSTROM WVENTORS' 4.0. RE/CHELT A] TORNEV Patented Oct. 22, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT .oFF ca APPARATUS FOR HANDLING MATERIAL Application September 15,1938, Serial No. 229,988

This invention relates to apparatus for handling material and more particularly to a supply reel from which strands are to be drawn, together with braking means therefor.

There are many kinds of processes and apparatus for handling and operating upon material in strand form, in a great number of which the strand to be operated upon is wound on spools or reels or the like, from which the strand i0 is drawn by the normal operation of the apparatus involved. In connection with such supply reels it becomes of great importance to control adJustably and yet with considerable accuracy, the resistance aiforded by the reel to the withdrawal of strand therefrom. It is ordinarily essential that this resistance, which imposes a tensional stress upon the strand being withdrawn, shall be maintained constant and shall be adjustable to conditions imposed in part by the nature of the strand and in part by the nature of the apparatus which withdraws the strand from the reel. These conditions become particularly important when the strand itself is fine and not of great strength in comparison with the 85 mass of the reel and the strand content thereon,

which ordinarily is put in rotation and maintained therein by the withdrawal of the strands.

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus or device for mounting a material 80 containing reel with means for driving the same to assist the withdrawn strand to rotate the reel, and to provide adjustable and accurately selfcompensating means whereby to impose an adjustable and accurately constant tension upon 86 the strand being withdrawn.

With theabove and other objects in view, one embodiment of the invention may present a shaft or spindle upon which a supply reel may be removably mounted, the shaft having the rotor m of an electric motor and the rotary member of a rotary brake mounted thereon, the stationary member of the brake being conveniently housed in a casing supported on the stationary stator housing of the motor, all in combination with 5 actuating means for the brake arranged to be controlled by the strand being withdrawn from the reel, the motor under control of the brake operating to drive the reel in the unwinding direction at a speed suificiently less than actual 5o unwinding speed to create the desired tension in the strand.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken in connec- 53 tion with the accompanying drawing in which the same reference numerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a supply reel supporting and driving device constructed in accordance with the invention;

5 Fig. 2 is a broken enlarged sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig l; and

3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of The apparatus herein disclosed is an illustrative embodiment ,of the invention and has a supporting bracket 20 of any suitable form by means of which the device may be supported in connection with whatever strand handling apparatus it is to be used. Upon the bracket 20 is supported in any suitable fashion a pair of horizontal rails 2 l, 2| along which a reel l9, containing a supply of strand l8 wound thereon, may be conveniently rolled to or from the operative position shown in the drawing. The reel I 9 is supported in this operative position upon a shaft 22 not shown in Fig. l but shown in Fig. 2 and upon any suitable stub shaft or other similar device 23. The reel I9 is placed in position upon, secured to, and detached from the members 22 and 23 in any convenient well known manner of removably supporting a reel upon such rotatable members. It is thought that such means for removably and interchangeably supporting reels are too familiar in the art to require detailed description here.

Upon the shaft 22 is also mounted the rotor of an electric motor, generally indicated by the numeral 24, to drive the reel in the direction indicated by the arrow. The motor 24 may be of any well known or suitable construction, it being found that a particularly suitable form of motor is a direct current shunt wound motor with a high internal resistance, such that the motor may be stalled while energized'without material injury.

There is also mounted on the shaft 22 and rigidly keyed thereto a drum shaped member 25 upon the outer periphery of which are secured one or more brake members 26 slidable axially on the drum but held against rotation thereon by a key I26 which have the form of thin annular flanges surrounding the drum 25 and outstanding therefrom at spaced intervals. A housing 21 surrounds the brake member 26 and is conveniently rigidly secured to the stationary housing 28 of the motor. The housing 21 is generally cylindrical in form and coaxial with the shaft 22. Against the inner surface of the cylindrical wall of the housing 21 one or more annular brake members 29 are slidably and non-rotatably guided by a key I29. These are in spaced intercalated relation to the members 28. The spaces between the members 26 and the members 29 are fllled with friction rings 30 of felt, asbestos fabric or other suitable material. The outer end wall 3| of the housing 21 has a central bore coaxial with the shaft 22. A stub shaft 32 longitudinally slidable in this bore carries a drum 33 having a coaxial flange 34 integral therewith extending toward theexterior left hand brake member 29. Flange 34 is coaxially grooved at its outer end, providing a recess within which is housed a ring 35 which presses against the outer left hand brake member 29. The ring 35 is provided on its left hand side with a plurality of bores within which are housed the respective members of a corresponding plurality of compression springs 38 which together urge the ring 35 against the left hand brake member 29. The stub shaft 32 is axially counter-bored at its right hand end to be slidable longitudinally upon a stub shaft 31 supported at its right hand end in a ball bearing 38 mounted on the left hand end of the shaft 22. The shaft 31 is counter-bored axially at its right hand end and a compression spring 39 is located in the two counter bores of the two shafts 32. and 31 and tends to move these two shafts axially apart, thus tending to drive the shaft 32 to the left, carrying the ring 35 away from the brake members. The left hand end of the shaft 32 abuts against a cam 40 mounted upon a vertical shaft 4| and rigidly secured thereto as by a pin 42. The shaft 4i is preferably journalled in and carried by ball bearings 43 and 44 supported in a housing 45 mounted on or integral with the housing 21. Near the lower end of the shaft 4| a horizontal lever 46 is rigidly secured thereto, as by a. pin 41, and extends horizontally into a suitably shaped housing 48 which may be integral with or attached to the housing 45. A pair of opposed compression springs 49 and 50, here shown as coaxially positioned helical coil springs, is mounted in the housing 48 in such fashion that the adjacent ends of the compression springs 49 and 58 arebrought to bear against opposite vertical faces of the lever 46 by means of suitably interposed contact blocks 5| and 52. The outer ends of the springs 49 and 50 are abutted against and supported by suitable screw plugs 53 and 54 in the housing 48. Preferably the blocks 5| and 52 will be provided with means such as a contact roller or ball 55 to minimize friction between the block and the lever.

-The shaft 4! has an extension 56, below the bearing 44 and outside of the housing, upon which is rigidly secured, as by a pin 51, a horizontal lever 58 upon the outer end of which a sheave 59 is mounted to be freely rotatable about a vertical axis. A roller 60 is mounted as shown under the rails 2|, 2| so that the plane of the groove of the sheave 59 is tangent to the top of the roller. In operation it is to be presumed that the device as shown is mounted as part of some machine or apparatus which is drawing the strand l8 from the reel l9. It is further to be presumed that the strand is being drawn at a substantially constant and predetermined rate of speed. In many such instances it may be desired to have a very great length of strand on the supply reel l9 and the strand may be fine and relatively fragile. For example, in some operations in connection with the manufacture of electrical conductor cable, especially such as is used in the telephone and other communications arts, the weight of the reel and the strand thereon. when the reel is full may be of the order of twenty pounds, sixty pounds, or even three hundred pounds, while the strand in question may be annealed copper wire I of twenty-four, twenty-six, or twenty-eight gauge or even smaller. It will be evident in such cases I that the strand may be stressed beyond its yield point if not broken if the strand alone be relied upon to set the reel in motion and keep it moving at the required speed, especially when it is realized that the winding of the strand on the reel may be irregular to a certain degree so that some coils are looser than others. Hence with the present apparatus the motor 24 is so energized and the brake device is so adjusted that y when the lever 48 is in the median position shown in Fig. 3, the motor will drive the reel l9 in the move to the left in Fig. 2, carrying the drum- 33 25 away from the brake members 26 and 29 and thus lessening the pressure of the ring 35 against the left hand member. This diminishes the braking effect between the various elements 26, 29 and 30 and the motor 24 drives the reel with greater velocity. In the same way if the lever 58 moves away from the observer in Fig. 1 the braking effect is increased and the motor is correspondingly less effective to drive the reel. It will be evident by inspection of Fig. 1 that, if the tension upon the strand 3 should increase for any reason, the strand will draw the sheave 59 and therewith the lever 58 toward the observer in Fig. 1. This, as just described, will ease the braking effect and thus permit the motor to drive the reel correspondingly faster and diminish the tension on the strand 18. The springs 49 and 50 are so formed and proportioned, and ifnecessary so ad'- justed by means of the screws 53 and 54, that when a strand l 8 is under the desired tension the lever 48 will normally lie in the median position shown in Fig. 3. Since the lever 45 thus floats, so to speak, between opposed tensions of the springs 49 and 58 it will be evident that the control of the braking effect by means of the lever 58 and hence by the effect of the strand on the sheave 59 will be very sensitive and responsive to changes in the strand tension.

It will be noted that the roller 60 is so positioned relatively to the sheave 59 that the groove of the sheave is always substantially in a plane tangent to the top of the roller. Hence the strand I8 passes both to and from the sheave 59 over the roller 60 always in the same way, without leading to or from the sheave at such an angle as to rub across the flanges of the groove in the sheave. This results from the facts that the shaft 4|, about which the lever 58 turns, is vertical, the axis of the sheave 59 is vertical, and the top of the roller 80 is horizontal. Hence motion of the lever 58 and sheave 59 relatively to the roller 60 cannot bring the strand I8 out of the plane of the groove of the sheave and thus introduce accidental variations into the strand tension due to friction across the sheave flanges.

The embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is illustrative only and may be modified and departed from in many ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a strand handling device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn at constant predeterminedspeed by external means, in combination with a motor having its rotor rigidly connected to the reel to drive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, brake meansdirectly connected to the rotor of the motor and eii'ectlve to prevent the rotor of the motor and thereby the reel also from running at the speed required by the predetermined constant strand speed, and means controlled by the strand and responsive to the tension of the strand to vary the efiectiveness of the brake means.

2. In a strand handling device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn at constant predetermined speed by external means, in combination with a motor having its rotor rigidly connected to the reel todrive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, rotary brake means directly connected to the rotor of the motor and efiective to prevent the rotor of the motor and thereby the reel also from running at the speed required by the predetermined constant strand speed, and means controlled by the strand and responsive to the tension of the strand to vary the effectiveness of the brake means, the rotor of the motor and the rotary member of the brake means being both rigidly mounted on a common shaft.

3. In a strand handling device; means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn at constant predetermined speed by external means, in combination with a motor to drive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, brake means 'eflective to prevent the motor from running at the speed required by the predetermined constant strand speed, means controlled by the strand and responsive to the tension of the strand to vary the eiIectiveness of the brake means, the strand controlled means comprising a member having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand, a pair of opposed springs between which the member normally floats, and means connected to the member to vary the effectiveness of the brake means.

4. In a strand handling device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn at constant predetermined speed by external means, in combination with a motor to drive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, brake means effective to prevent the motor from running at the speed required by the predetermined constant strand speed, means controlled by the strand and responsive to the tension of the strand to vary the efiectiveness of the brake means, the-strand controlled means comprising a lever having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand, 8. pair of opposed springs between which an arm of the lever normally floats, and means connected to the lever to vary the eifectiveness of the brake means.

5. In a material handling device, means to rotatably support a material containing reel, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a member over which material passes to or from the reel and movable responsively to changes in tension in the material, opposed springs between which the member normally floats, and means actuated by the member to vary the efiectiveness of the brake means.

6. In a strand supply device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a member having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the member responsively to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the member normally floats, and means actuated by the member to vary the efiectiveness of the brake means.

7. In a strand supply device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a lever having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the lever responsively to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the lever normally floats, and cam means actuated by the lever to vary the e'fiectiveness of the brake means.

8. In a strand supply device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, a motor to drive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, :3. member having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the member responsively to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the member normally floats, and means actuated by the member to vary the effec tiveness of the brake means.

9. In a strand supply device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, a motor to drive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a lever having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the lever responsively to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the lever normally floats, and cam means actuated by the lever to vary the efiectiveness of the brake means.

10. In a strand supply device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a member having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the member responsively to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the member normally floats, means actuated by the member to vary the effectiveness of the brake means, and means to guide the strand to and from the sheave in the plane of the groove of the sheave.

11. In a strand supply device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, a motor to drive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a member having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to'move the member responsively to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the member normally floats, means actuated by the member to vary the effectiveness of the brake means, and means to guide the strand to and fromthe sheave in the plane of the groove of the sheaves.

12. In a strand supply device, means torotatstrand is to be drawn, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a member having a sheave thereon to receive a loop 01 the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the member responsively -to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the member normally floats, means actuated by the member to vary the eflectiveness of the brake means, and a roller tangent to the plane of the groove of the sheave to guide the strand to and from the sheave in the plane or the groove of the sheave.

13. In a strand supply device, means .to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, a motor to drive the reel in the unwinding direction thereof, adjustable brake means operating to oppose rotation of the reel, a member having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the member responsively to changes in tension in the strand, opposed springs between which the member normally floats, means actuated by the member to vary the effectiveness of the brake means, and a roller tangent to the plane of the groove of the sheave to guide the strand to and from the sheave in the plane of the groove of the sheave.

14. In a strand supply device, means to rotatably support a strand supply reel from which a strand is to be drawn, a lever having a sheave thereon to receive a loop of the strand being withdrawn from the reel to move the lever responsively to changes in tension in the strand, and a roller tangent to the plane of the groove of the sheave to guide the strand to and from the sheave in the plane of the groove of the sheave.

AXEL C. NYSTROM.

LESTER O. REICHELT. 20 

